Metal furniture



April ,1944 Q. G. NOBUTT E 2,346,448

METAL FURNITURE Filed Dec; 15, 1940 INVENTORS. I

Patented Apr. 11, 1944 METAL FURNITURE Quintin o. Noblitt, Earl C. Booth, and Bertis r. Hamilton, Columbus, 11211., assignors to Noblitt- Sparks Industries, Inc., Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application December 13, 1940, Serial No. 369,940

6Claims.

the horizontal sheet-metal element to the vertical tubular element and, in the case of the chair, to increase the rigidity of the connection between tubular supporting elements.

Referring to a chair by way of example, we carry out our invention by forming the chair-seat of sheet-metal and by providing it around its periphery with a vertical depending flange formed at appropriate places to provide vertically extending channels or grooves for the reception of the vertically extending intermediate portions of generally U-shaped supporting mem bers. These supporting members are located at opposite sides of the chair with their lower horizontal legs adapted to rest upon the ground, floor, or other supporting surface, and with their upper horizontal legs disposed above the chair-seat a. and connected to the chair back to serve as arms. Associated with each of the grooves or channels zontal portions of the tubular supporting members are interconnected by a stretcher or crossmember, and the means employed to connect each of such supporting members to the adjacent end of the stretcher is so arranged as to exert on the supporting member a horizontal force directed inwardly or toward the opposite supporting member.

The accompanying drawing illustrates our invention: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a' metal chair; Fig. 2 is a fragmental view of the chairseat, in partial section on the line 22 of Fig.3, showing the means employed to interconnect the chair-seat with each of the supporting mem bers; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 illustrating one means which we may employ to secure to the supporting members the two ends of the stretcher extending between them; and Fig. 5 is a modified form of means for accomplishing the same purpose.

The chair illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a seat portion 14 of the adjacent support I2.

N, a back II, and a pair oftubular supporting members i2 each of which has a generally horizontal portion l3, adapted to rest on the ground, floor, or other supporting surface; an intermediate, generally vertical portion l4; and an upper horizontal portion l5 which serves as an arm. The bottom of the chair-back is secured to the rear edge of the chair-seat in any convenient manner; the seat Hi, at its front corners, is secured to the intermediate portions ll of the supporting members; and the rear ends of the arms l5 are secured to opposite sides of the back II at points spaced above the seat l0.

The seat to, as will be clear from Figs. 2 and 3, is provided around its periphery with a depending flange 20 which, at or near the front corners of the seat, is made arcuate in horizontal crosssection as indicated at 20' to present an outwardly directed, vertically extendinggroove or channel for the reception of the intermediate Associated with each of the arcuate flange-portions 20' is a re-enforcing member 2| which is also arcuate in horizontal cross-section, to conform to the inner surface of the flange-portion 20'. The reenforcing member 2| is adaptednear its center for the reception or a bolt or screw 22 which extends diametrically through the support and serves to hold the support l2 and seat In together.

Desirably, the element 22 is a screw the threaded inner end of which is received in co-operative relationship within an annular flange 23 formed by the extrusion of metal at an intermediate point of the re-enforcing member 2|. We prefer to use a screw 22 of the self-tapping type so that it will cut its own threads in the flange 23. The latter may be preliminarily tapped to facilitate entrance of the screw 22; but if so, it is preferably tapped to a diameter such that the screw 22 will still have some cutting action to perform as it is inserted into the flange 23.

An important feature of the re-enforcing element 2| is that it is arched slightly longitudinally as indicated in Fig. 3 so that it engages the in-, ner surface of the associated arcuate' portions of the flange 20 only near its ends. Because of the arcuate cross-section of the -re-enforcing member 2| it is relatively rigid against the load tion 20' as by tack-welding at or near its ends.

The lower portions l3 of the supporting members I! are interconnected by an intermediately disposed transverse stretcher 25, which is desirably tubular in cross-section. In the arrangement illiistrated in Fig. 4, each end of the stretcher 25 is formed to provide an outwardly presented seat for the adjacent support-portion l3 and is trimmed to leave two fingers 26 which extend outwardly of the chair above and below such support-portion. is pierced for the reception of a vertically extending bolt 24, the bolt-receiving holes in the support-portion being only slightly larger than the bolt. The fingers 26 are slotted as indicated at 21 for thereception of the bolt 24; and, at the outer end of each slot, a tongue of metal 28 'is formed. Each of these tongues joins the associated finger 26 at its outer end and extends therefrom inwardly of the chair and outwardly with reference to the support-portion l3, the up per tongue engaging the bolt beneath the head 29 thereof and the lower tongue engaging the bolt beneath a nut 30 on the threaded lower end of such bolt.

From Fig. 4 it will be apparent that the vertical force applied to the fingers 26 as the bolt 24-30 is tightened will be transmitted to the fingers through the tongues 28 and will tend to distort such tongues into the planes of the respective fingers, Because of the inclined dispositions of the tongues, any such distortion thereof will tend to force the fingers 25 outwardly of the chair and thereby to draw the adjacent end of the stretcher 25 tightly against the inner side of the support-portion l3. The inner ends of the slots 21 are disposed far enough inwardly that they will not interfere with this action of the fingers 28.

- In the modified construction illustrated in Fig. 5, each support-portion i3 is pierced horizontally for the reception of the shank of a bolt 35. This bolt has an enlarged cylindrical head 36 fitting within the tubular stretcher 25' and provided with an annular groove 31. In the manufacture of the chair, the head 36 of the bolt 35 is inserted into the tubular stretcher 25' at'each end thereof and the metal of the stretcher is then deformed inwardly as indicated at 38 to enter the groove 31 and hold the bolt in place. The extreme outer end of' the stretcher 25' is formed as indicated at 39 to provide a seat for the support-portion I3, and the latter is firmly drawn into such seat by a nut 60 on the threaded outer end of the bolt 35. .Desirably, there is interposed between the 'nut 40 and the support-portion 13 a washer 4| having flanges 42 curved arcuately to conform to the outer surface of the support-portion l3.

Chairs or other articles of furniture using the connections above described are intended to be packed and shipped by a manufacturer in The support-portion I3:

permanently to the inner face of the flange-porthey still serve to make firm and rigid connections.

We claim as our invention:

1. An article of metal furniture, comprising supporting members having generally vertically extending portions of tubular cross-section, a generally horizontal, sheet-metal supported member, said supported member having a generally vertical peripheral flange formed to provide outwardly presented seats for the reception ing member being longitudinally arched -to enknocked-down condition and to be erected when gage said seat only near its' ends, and a screw extending transversely through said supporting member, through the associated seat, and into said reinforcing member for holding the supporting member securely in the seat.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the addition that said reinforcingmember is of sheet metal and is provided with a hole, the metal at the edge of said hole being deformed to provide an annular flange, said flange being internally threaded for the reception of said screw, said screw being of the self-tapping type.

3. The invention set forth in claim 1 with the addition that said reinforcing member is of sheet metal and is provided with a hole, the metal at the edge of said hole being deformed to provide an annular flange, said flange being internally threaded for the reception of said screw.

4; In a metal chair, a pair of generally U- shaped tubular supporting members each having a generally vertical intermediate portion, a lower horizontal. portion adapted to rest on a supporting surface, and an upper horizontal arm-forming portion, a sheet metal seat for said chair, said seat having a generally vertical peripheral flange formed to provide outwardly presented seats for the reception respectively of the vertical parts of said tubular members, a reinforcing member overlying'the inner surface of each of said seats, said reinforcing member being longitudinally arched to engage said seat only near its ends, and a screw extending transversely through said supporting member, through the associated seat, and into said reinforcing member for holding the supporting member securely in the seat.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 with the addition that. said reinforcing member is of sheet metal and is provided with a hole, the metal at the edge of said hole being deformed to provide an annular flange, said flange being internally threaded for the reception of said screw,'said screw being of the self-tapping type.

6. The invention set forth in claim 4 with the addition that said reinforcing member is of sheet metal and is provided with a hole, the metal at the edge of said hole being deformed to provide an annular flange, said flange being internally threaded for the reception of said screw.

QUINTIN G. NOBLJ'I'I. EARL C. BOOTH. B. F. HAMILTON. 

